Pakistan opposition pressure after raid
Source: Agencies |
May 12, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PAKISTAN'S opposition leader accused the powerful spy agency of negligence and incompetence yesterday as the country's former president said rogue members of the security establishment may have helped Osama bin Laden hide for years near Islamabad.
Nawaz Sharif, who heads Pakistan's largest opposition group, rejected a government decision to put an army general in charge of the inquiry into intelligence lapses that led to the killing of bin Laden in a helicopter raid by US commandos on May 2.
"It is matter of serious concern that our security institutions knew nothing when the helicopter gunships and commandos remained in our territory and airspace for so long," he told a news conference, calling for a judicial commission to lead the investigation to dispel doubts about its objectivity.
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who lives in exile in London, told the ABC News network that there was a possibility that rogue junior officers in the country's intelligence and military might have been aware of bin Laden's whereabouts for years.
"It's really appalling that he was there and nobody knew," he said. "But rogue element within is a possibility. The possibility ... (is that there was), at the lower level, somebody following a policy of his own and violating the policy from above."
Pakistan rejected allegations that it was either incompetent in tracking down bin Laden or complicit in hiding him in the town of Abbottabad just 50 kilometers from Islamabad.
"We wouldn't be naive enough to be complicit in this affair. We would be risking not only the future of our country, but also the future of our children," a senor security official said.
Nawaz Sharif, who heads Pakistan's largest opposition group, rejected a government decision to put an army general in charge of the inquiry into intelligence lapses that led to the killing of bin Laden in a helicopter raid by US commandos on May 2.
"It is matter of serious concern that our security institutions knew nothing when the helicopter gunships and commandos remained in our territory and airspace for so long," he told a news conference, calling for a judicial commission to lead the investigation to dispel doubts about its objectivity.
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who lives in exile in London, told the ABC News network that there was a possibility that rogue junior officers in the country's intelligence and military might have been aware of bin Laden's whereabouts for years.
"It's really appalling that he was there and nobody knew," he said. "But rogue element within is a possibility. The possibility ... (is that there was), at the lower level, somebody following a policy of his own and violating the policy from above."
Pakistan rejected allegations that it was either incompetent in tracking down bin Laden or complicit in hiding him in the town of Abbottabad just 50 kilometers from Islamabad.
"We wouldn't be naive enough to be complicit in this affair. We would be risking not only the future of our country, but also the future of our children," a senor security official said.
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